Tag: mulled wine

Waddeson Manor is a Manor house (surprisingly) located in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Waddeson Manor invite the public to join them for festive fun during the months of November-December (Wednesday- Sunday from 11AM-6PM). Weekends are very busy at Waddeson Manor so they do suggest if you can to visit during the week.

We visited Waddeson Manor on Sunday 26th November and had the best day ever. We arrived at the car park at about midday and wondered over to the bus stop (about a 5 minute walk from the over flow car park). There was a short que but we got on the next available bus and the journey was about 5 minutes.

We had tickets to the Manor House so upon arrival we walked up the path and entered the house to ensure we didn’t miss our time slot. We envisioned the house to be full to the brim of beautifully decorated Christmas trees in every room (Annie’s mum had been the year before and said the Manor House was worth a visit). This year however the theme was animals but we felt like they could have made the exhibition a little bit more festive it was in fact very odd and a bit of an anti-climax. So if you are thinking about going to Waddeson Manor this isn’t something we would recommend doing spend your £10 on a couple of mulled wines instead.

The Christmas markets we located either side of the manor with a walk way and grass in between. The stalls had lights around them which looked particularly pretty at night. As usual most of the stalls were food related, not that we are complaining at all! We tried a lot of cheese, chutney and fudge on our way round and it was all delicious.

It took us about an hour and a half to wonder around the markets, we still had about 20 minutes before our afternoon tea so we enjoyed a delicious mulled wine & hot chocolate to help warm our bones a bit.

Festive afternoon tea at Waddeson Manor was incredible, it cost £25pp and was worth every penny. We were served a glass of champagne on arrival before ordering our tea off of the menu. They had a great selection of teas on offer but we all picked the English breakfast tea, it always feels wrong ordering a tea that isn’t English breakfast when having afternoon tea.

The selection of sandwiches or sandwich alternatives we should say were incredible and we all agreed that we much preferred having sandwich alternatives as they were less filling which meant we had plenty of room for the cakes. The sandwich menu included; Brie and cranberry tart, pork chipolata wrapped in bacon with honey mustard, smoked haddock rarebit and more.

The selection of cakes and desserts were also delicious and we loved the variety of flavours on our platesd. The menu included; mini mince pie, winter spiced apple pannacotta, homemade scone with jam and clotted cream and many more.

We didn’t feel like we were being rushed at all during our afternoon tea, the waiters and waitresses left enough time between the sandwiches and cakes which meant we really got to enjoy our time. The atmosphere was perfect and we were lucky to have a round table (we don’t know what it is but we just love a round table they are more sociable that’s for sure). We would highly recommend the afternoon tea in Waddeson Manod and it was definitely one of the highlights of our day.

We left Waddeson Manor at about 16:30PM and noticed the que for the buses was incredibly long, although they said the que goes down quickly we actually opted to walk back to the car, we had just eaten a lot of cake and decided we could do with the exercise. Waddeson Manor have created a path that is well lit but we must have taken a wrong turn and ended up walking along the road which actually turned out to be the better option. The path wasn’t muddy but it was incredibly slippery so although probably a more direct route it probably wouldn’t have saved us much time.

All in all it was a fab day out and we would definitely recommend a visit, if you are travelling a long way though we would suggest you definitely grab a bite to eat whilst you are there and take a walk through the gardens. We loved our day at Waddeson and it was the perfect way to kick start our month long festive fun.

Is anyone else obsessed with writing to do lists? We have one master copy to do list but then we also seem to have so many other daily to do lists flying around reminding us of all the work we have to do. We have therefore decided to document our December to do list (mostly fun things).

Life can get so busy especially in December that sometimes we forget to just stop and take a look back at everything we wanted to do, so we thought if we document it we have to do it right?

What is on your December to do list? We would love to know as always!

Blogmas- We are so excited to be taking part in Blogmas again this year, we loved it last year but it does mean our to list has grown and Blogmas has justified its own to do list.

Baking everything Christmas related- We love baking all things seasonal especially at Christmas time! We spend our lives on Pinterest gathering all the inspiration we need to get in the kitchen and make the house smell like sugar and spice.

Attend a carol concert- This is one of our favourite things to do at Christmas time and last year we didn’t get round to going to a carol concert together.

Drink copious amounts of Mulled Wine- Need we say more? We love mulled wine and we even made our own last year which was incredible.

Watch endless Christmas films- Snuggled on the sofa with the fire on, hot chocolate in hand wrapped in a blanket our idea of heaven.

Winter walks- Just because its cold outside doesn’t mean you have to spend all of your time inside, get outside and explore the countryside.

Put up the Christmas tree and outside lights- A tradition that will never end!

Wear tacky Christmas jumpers- If you see two girls wearing identical tacky Christmas jumpers walking around you can probably assume that is us.

Watching and take part in Vlogmas- We will be taking part in Vlogmas for the first time this year, we won’t be Vlogging everyday but we will try and film as often as possible. Watching Vlogmas is one of our favourite things to do we always catch up on it in the gym when we are doing some cardio.

Spend time with friends & Family- December is the month were everyone makes the effort to see family and friends and we absolutely love it.

Buy Christmas presents- Thankfully we have already started (super organised this year) but we still have a few more bits to get!

Boxing day used to be a day of rest in our house, we would be getting over the Christmas excitement and playing with all our new toys. The afternoon would consist of watching lots of films on the TV and enjoying the left over turkey. That was until my Dad decided to take up Morris Dancing as a hobby!

Every year his dancing troop meet at a pub in a little village nearby called Sarratt. Sarratt is so beautiful if you haven’t been then I would really recommend you take a dive, there are plenty of circular walks you can do and a selection of pubs to end in. There is a pub there called The Cricketers and the dancing starts outside at 12:30pm. Lots of our family and friends turn up to watch and its just another excuse to enjoy a mulled wine or two. Every year we are so lucky with the weather, the sun is always shining and by the end of it no one can feel their toes!

Once the dancing has finished all the family comes back to our house where we will have a big old feast! Which usually includes cold turkey, bubble and squeak, pork pies, cheese and basically anything else my mum has decided to cook. Its safe to say on the 27th December there is always so many leftovers in our fridge (definitely not complaining about that!).

I absolutely love this tradition and sometimes I look forward to it even more than Christmas day, nothing beats a day with the family; eating, drinking and being merry!

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas day and Boxing day resting up and enjoying time with the people you love.

Ice skating has definitely become a Christmas tradition for us in the recent years. There are so many ice rinks to choose from in London we thought we would share some of the ice rinks we have tried and tested!

Most of the ice rinks have 1 hour slots, but make sure you book your spot online quickly as they sell out pretty fast. We love ice skating in the evening when it is dark outside as most of the ice rinks usually have pretty lights that make the rinks much more picturesque.

Don’t forget to wrap up warm and we would suggest wearing some extra thick socks (ski socks) so your toes don’t get cold!

After you have ice skated we would recommend warming up with a nice mulled wine of hot chocolate.

Somerset House- This is the first ice rinks we ever went to at Christmas time in London so of course it is top of our list. The location is stunning and the ice rink is built in the middle of the 18th century courtyard. There is something about this ice rink that is very magical and always makes you feel super festive. After you have ice skated remember to take a photo in front of the amazing Christmas tree they have every year.

Natural History Museum- This Ice Rink is truly stunning! The trees around the ice rink are draped in fairy lights making it the most enchanting ice rink in London. There is a large ice rink and also a smaller ice rink suitable for children. Watch out though as this ice rink can occasionally close for private functions.

Hampton Court Palace- Henry VIII’s sixteenth century house makes a pleasant setting for this outdoor ice risk. We would recommend visiting the ice risk in the evening when it really comes alive.

Winter wonder land – The entry to winter wonderland is free but if you want to go ice skating you will need to purchase a ticket online. When we visited winter wonderland previously we thought the ice rink was quite over crowded, even though it is the biggest outdoor rink in the London.